Tomorrow night Celtic face Borussia Moenchengladbach in a game which has to be won if the hoops have any realistic chance of playing in Europe after christmas.
On the face of it, its eminently doable, but football can be a strange game sometimes. With the other two sides in the group being so powerful on paper, the Germans have become the weakest side in the group, and we need to remember thats all relative.
Recent injuries have made them appear to be even weaker. Defender Andreas Christensen has picked up a gluteal muscle injury-can happen to anyone-and he’s out, while forward Josip Drmic won’t make the trip either.
Their website seemed to suggest there is no improvement on their two main forwards either;
“Raffael and Thorgan Hazard ( brother of Eden ) were first to arrive early in the morning to spend some time on the training field with rehabilitation coach Andreas Bluhm.
“Both are on their way back to fitness and were able to do some individual practice with the ball.
“Whether or not they travel to Scotland with the rest of the squad for the Champions League match on Wednesday evening against Celtic will not be decided until Tuesday morning.”
Everything looks to be pointing toward a Celtic victory, but thats when we cock things up.
Borussia should not be underestimated. There’s little doubt that Brendan Rodgers knows this, but the media are already starting to focus on the upcoming League cup semi final with “rangers”, probably in a desire to make that game seem as important.
Borussia currently sit ninth in the Bundesliga, having not started the season as well as they could have expected to. This might make them a little less confident ahead of tomorrows game, but it also could mean they will feel less pressure in Glasgow. Especially as the hype around the atmosphere at Celtic Park, and the fallout from the performance against Manchester City now make Celtic favourites to get a result.
We’ve seen it all go wrong before, and lets hope that the squad can deal with the expectation a little better.
Then again, last seasons debacle in Europe was achieved by a different Celtic. This one, although playing in a way that last years boss Deila wanted, seem to understand a little better how to do it.
Then again, there have been several crucial personnel changes that have made a difference.
Kolo Toure has organised the defence. Scott Sinclair has rejuvenated the flanks, and the changeling that is James Forrest has combined to keep last years hero Patrick Roberts on the sidelines.
And who would have thought that Leigh Griffiths would be playing second fiddle to anyone, let alone a bargain buy prospect from Fulham ?
Moussa Dembele has turned out to be an exceptional player, and with two top class goalscorers on side, even if they take it in turns to do their bit, Celtic will always have a chance no matter who the opposition.
Well, I say two top class goalscorers, but when you add Scott sinclair to that, its really three.
Sinclair’s achievements have been overshadowed by those of Dembele.
The Englishman, cast aside by his previous club, who must be kicking themselves, or at least trying to kick themselves, has performed superbly. He has eleven goals this term, and has scored in every league game bar one, which in itself is phenomenal, and he’d be hogging the headlines any other season.
Add to that the contribution of Leigh Grifiths, who has missed a few games through injury, and thats a fearsome trio for any club at any level.
Not quite on a par with Sutton, Hartson and Larsson, but its certainly getting there.
There’s plenty of options for Rodgers tomorrow, and whilst a lot of us would like to see a full ninety minutes from Dembele and Grifiths up front together, we may have to wait a while yet.
Craig Gordon will get the gloves tomorrow, largely because de Vries, if handed them, would no doubt throw them back towards whoever gave them to him.
Mikael Lustig and the ever improving Keiran Tierney will be the full backs, and Kolo Toure will guide Erik Sviatchenko through the game at centre half.
Scott Brown and Nir biton will take it in turns to sit in front of the defence while the other one runs through the middle, hopefully with the ball, and they’ll support the trio of Forrest, Rogic and Sinclair.
The tactic of one up front is being played to perfection this term. Ronny Deila wanted the flank men to become a secondary striker when the ball was in the latter third, but the players either didn’t go for it, or didn;t understand it. Rodgers has explained how it works, and now we’ve all seen it in action, it comes naturally to the players.
Moussa Dembele may not be used to playing a solo game up front, but the support he gets ensures he doesn’t have to.
With that eleven on the park at a qurter to eight, rodgers will have several options on the bench if he needs to change things.
Izaguirre, Simunovic, Armstrong, MacGregor, Roberts and Griffiths would walk into any side in Scotland, and quite a few elsewhere, but for now, their role is to change the game if its not going well, and they’ve shown they can do that.
As for Borussia themselves, what do we know about them ?
Well two of their strips look more than decent;
Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach e.V., commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (pronounced [boˈʁʊsi̯aː mœnçn̩ˈɡlatbax]),[1][2] Mönchengladbach or Gladbach, is a German football club in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded in 1900, Borussia Mönchengladbach play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, making their first appearance in the league during the 1965–66 season. Subsequently the club became one of Germany’s best-known, best-supported, and most successful teams, winning the Bundesliga five times during the 1970s.[3]
Since 2004, Borussia Mönchengladbach have played at the 54,057 capacity Borussia-Park, having previously played at the smaller Bökelbergstadion since 1919. Borussia-Park is famous for its “Nordkurve” (or North stand), a single-tiered stand. Borussia Mönchengladbach has over 75,000 members as of April 2016 and is the fifth largest club in Germany.[4] Their main rivals are 1. FC Köln, who they compete against in the Rheinland Derby.[5]
“Borussia” is a Latinized form of Prussia, a popular term for German clubs in the former Kingdom of Prussia. The club’s nickname is Die Fohlen [diː ˈfoːlən] (“The Foals”), coined in the 1970s due to having a young team with a fast, aggressive playing style. They also frequently refer to themselves as Die Fohlenelf (“The Foals’ Eleven”), a nickname displayed on their shirts. The official mascot of the club is the foal Jünter.
The mid to late seventies were their golden era, with a European cup runners up spot, and two UEFA cup wins out of four final appearances. Players such as Uli Steilike, Rainer Bonhof, Allan Simonsen and Gunter Netzer were among their stars at the time, so its no surprise they did well, though a lot of the credit has been given to their manager amd coaches of the period. When Odo Lattek and his sidekick Hennes Weisweller moved on, combined with the sale of their best players, they fell into decline.
Their list of former managers is quite impressive, apart from one… which shows how far they had fallen.
In 2004, Mönchengladbach appointed Dick Advocaat, who had guided the Netherlands national team to the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 2004tournament and was a successful manager at Rangers, as their new coach. The Dutchman, however, was unable to turn the team’s fortunes and resigned in April of the following year.
Presumably all the players wanted to take charge of their own tax affairs.
If Celtic approach the game the way they did against Manchester city, we have every reason to be confident of another great night under the lights. However, if the Barcelona approach is revived, we can forget Europe after christmas.
Oscar Wendt, who was in the Copenhagen side that faced Celtic in the 2006/7 campaign, spoke of the atmosphere, which suits us. It means they are thinking of the effects of the crowd rather than what the players can do.
” ….what I remember most was the atmosphere at the match in Glasgow.
“It was one of the best I’ve ever experienced. The players have all been talking about it. The fans at Celtic really back their players so it’s a huge boost to have 60,000 fans singing for them.
“That’s why we’ll have to start the game well because Celtic will come at us early, like they did to Manchester City in the last game. If we can keep the crowd quiet that will definitely help us.
It doesn’t make any difference, which they might well find out for themselves.
“The next two matches will probably decide who gets into the Europa League. There is no shame in saying that Barcelona and Manchester City are the favourites in our section.
“Everyone thought from the outset that it would be up to Celtic and ourselves to fight it out for third place.”
This shows, though, that they believe their campaign starts tomorow night, and we can expect a different side from the one that lost to Barcelona and Manchester City. Which in turn could mean that a heavy defeat for them will knock the stuffing out of them.
The papers are full of the weekends game with “rangers “, and its there we find possibly the most ridiculous interview of this season, and probably any other.
Rangers can bounce back from Celtic thrashing just like they
did 16 years ago says Ian Durrant
Durrant, of course, is an idiot, and goes on to show this when he claims;
“If you look back in history, teams have overturned big defeats quickly. In the 2000-01 season Rangers lost 6-2 and then in the next one, albeit after the addition of Ronald de Boer, they turned Celtic over 5-1. That was in a matter of two months.
“Rangers were big underdogs at Parkhead last time and they will be big underdogs again. But this is where, if you want to be a Rangers player, it is the time to stand up. We have heard a lot of talk and a lot of things but this is it now. They have a chance to play Celtic fairly quickly.”
And they are probably still traumatised from the last game.
“I only know the ones that came in last year. Guys like Jason Holt, Andy Halliday and Harry Forrester. They are characters and they believe in their own ability.
“Martyn Waghorn is never short of goals. Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace have been over it and they know what the script is. Danny Wilson has been there before. So they have characters but it is about the team.
It is about the team. They’re shite.
“It’s a team effort and in an Old Firm a lot of the times they are not the prettiest of games. A lot depends on luck and if you score first you have a chance.
“The semi-final last season when Rangers played so well can be a help but in hindsight, Celtic might have used that to their advantage the last time.
“They came out the blocks straight away. Rangers had been doing well until they lost the first goal and then the wee frailties showed up. Obviously, going down to 10 men rubbed salt into the wound.
Down to ten men ? They played like there was only half a dozen of them.
“At 3-1 you’re trying to push on but they were cut open at the back and although Celtic were better on the day I would say 5-1 against 10 men flattered them a little bit.”
Believe it or not, he means it flattered Celtic, whereas everyone else would argue it flattered “rangers “.
Good news for employees of Celtic, and a good move from the club..
CELTIC are now paying their staff the living wage after sustained pressure from fans.
Around 100 employees at the Glasgow club now earn a minimum £8.25 an hour.
Hundreds more casual staff will also see their pay rise to above the living wage threshold.
It marks a victory by fans groups in their long-running campaign to convince Parkhead executives to bring in the rate.
Its quite a triumph for those who campaigned for it, as both Lawwell and chairman Iain Bankier had publicily spoken out against its introduction.
And it means we can redouble our efforts on getting the club involved more in the Resolution 12 issue.
They’ve shown they will listen to the support, we just might have to shout a bit louder.
Here’s something else to be proud of…
Inside The SPFLScottish Premiership club Celtic have had more fans through the gate so far in 2016-17 (483,056) than every other club in Europe.
With tomorrow nights home game a sell out, the hoops will be -with Barcelona-one of two clubs to smash through the half million barrier. No mean feat at all.
There was more good news as the total amount raised for Palestinian charities was declared at £176,096, which dwarfs the fine the club received, and one wonders if the club will match the total with a donation of its own….
Then we can truly claim to be a club like no other.
Very often the diary is regarded as a lightweight humorous effort, with occasional serious interludes, and you would be surprised to hear it mentioned in the same breath as say, English renaissance drama, but it has.
which gives me a warm glow inside….
SomeWordsToJumpAtMe Girl next to me on the bus is reading a massive tome, entitled ‘English Renaissance Drama’. As for me, I’m browsing the @ETimsNet diary..
And I’ll wager there were more laughs in the diary as well. Probably.
Yesterdays tale about the water people and the we are the peepil caught other peoples attention. Mostly to disregard it, but I for one, and probably the players as well, are a little relieved that this weekends game is at Hampden, just in case the players want a drink of water, and the support need to flush away their breakfasts.
We received the info, we put it out there for you to make your own minds up on, and like me, the general opinion is sceptical, but it is “them ” , after all, or at least they want to be “them “, and that means nothing should be disregarded as mere tittle tattle.
Especially where the payment-or non payment of bills is concerned.
which brings us to the longest running ever caption competition…
and a worthy winner…
Caption .. down ibrox…stadium manager…
F.F.S. Sammy how is that gettin rid of evidence….
And today….
